A VISIT TO NEW ZEALAND

© Alvena Hall

Ozquilt Network Newsletter Issue #33 SEPTEMBER 1999

I recently had the wonderful treat of a trip to New Zealand (North Island), both to teach and to tour. It took a lot of planning, a lot of packing and re-packing, and many e-mails and phone calls in order for things to run smoothly, and I owe a huge thank you to Sarah Caldwell. My Bobby came too, as driver and bag-man.

New Zealand was full of surprises and the unexpected. The flight out meant a disgustingly early start of 4 am from Adelaide, the inevitable delay in Sydney, a confused arrival and a long wait for the hire car. Then came a nervous drive north out of town. We woke next day at Orewa, and found ourselves beside a wonderful beach with pink and blue painted houses, a backdrop of dramatically dark pines, and a damp mist over the bay. North beckoned but a detour had us at the eccentric and wonderful Kauri Museum at Matakohe. We ate pasties on the verandah as we watched the rain, finally recognising a frantic urge to see the great tree, the God of the Forest, the Tane Mahuta. Other plans were swiftly ditched. There are moments in every life marked by an acute awareness, a sharpened perception and an experience so vivid that words fail. We frolicked along the moss and lichen draped tunnel in the rain forest, dodging logs covered in bright fungus, and delighting in the thousand shades of green at out feet. But an involuntary gasp had me rock still and speechless at the first sight of the towering Presence of this tree, possibly the oldest, and certainly the largest living thing on the planet.

The next day was a landscape workshop day at Whangerei. The light and sun drenched samples I brought got translated into darker richer colours, and the gentle slopes of the Adelaide hills became dramatically steeper as the day progressed. It took several more days before the character of the northern landscape impinged upon me. Himself went to the Bay of Islands, and there seem to be many many islands off the coast. It followed in each of the next five workshops, that the formats I had selected got translated to a completely new aesthetic. I called it the 'M-N' profile, for the steepness of the forest clad slopes and the dramatic depths of the gorges filled with rushing torrents.

We had a few rest days at Lake Taupo, with a day trip or two. I had anticipated a pleasant country drive through farmland to Napier, the Art Deco city. Instead there were dramatic views through the clear patches in the fog of raggy mountains, deep ravines and precipitous slopes covered in dark forests. Napier had us madly spinning off rolls of film and page after page of very hasty sketches as we scurried from one ornamented wonder to another. New Zealand has marvellous regional museums and galleries, and there was a contemporary jewellery show on at Napier. There were splendid pieces made with pumice stone, paper, feathers and flax fibre, and a clear acknowledgment of both the local resources and the Maori culture.

Another treat was a visit to the Art Museum at Hamilton, for there we saw a travelling collection of the Nelson Art to Wear awards. All those impossible to decipher photographs came to make sense, once confronted with the real thing! We escaped to the museum coffee shop, where I caught a glimpse of something interesting. This turned out to be a full sized Maori war canoe, of recent construction and in full feathered glory. Wonderful woven mats, fishing gear, weaponry and baskets were also there, with a quote I found profoundly moving:

"There is but one eye of the needle through which the white, black and red threads must pass. After I am one, hold fast to the love, to the law and to the faith."

But everywhere one travels it is the people who really matter. I met wonderful quilters and very talented craftsmen and women just everywhere. But one encounter really stands out. The day we had in Wellington was entirely spent in the fantastic Te Papa ('our place' in Maori), and here I fell in love with splendid feathered cloaks. I began drawing the musical instruments and the carved patterns of Maori design. I fell to chatting with Craig, a young Maori graphic designer, and came away with a small insight into the richness of the culture and a brief survey of some basic iconography. I brought home reams of scrappy sketches, and rolls of film that make up my 'waka huia', my treasure chest. All that remains is to plot and plan for a return trip, hopefully to include the South Island too.

© Alvena Hall 1999